The present invention is directed to the field of diagramming models, and more particularly, to the field of software facilities for computer aided diagramming of models, such as computer network models.
When attempting to communicate one""s ideas, a picture may be worth move than a thousand words, particularly when trying to explain complex systems. Computers, and software running on these computers, have helped people explain and communicate their ideas more effectively than ever before, and diagramming or graphics software applications have helped people more readily create pictures of their ideas.
One particularly difficult idea to communicate effectively in words is the configuration of a computer network. As a result, diagrams have been used effectively to identify elements in a network and their related connections. Using a diagramming software application, a user laboriously and manually creates a diagram of the network. The user must create icons or shapes representing various elements in the network when such shapes do not exist. Some computer networks are extensive and complex, and thus require considerable user effort to create diagrams of them, let alone proofread and verify each element in the diagram.
Some computer software packages create and diagram information representing all elements of a computer network. Examples of such systems are Network Audit Technology by Kaspia Systems, Inc. and OpenView by Hewlett-Packard Corporation. These systems analyze a computer network to create a database that logically represents the various components in the network. These systems can then create a diagram of that network using the database. These systems, however, focus on developing a database that logically represents network elements, rather than of a diagram of the network. The diagram is typically so large and involves so much information that it often overwhelms the user. The user may well spend more time analyzing and editing the diagram to provide a useful picture of a portion of the network, than if the user were simply to use a diagramming software application to create the network picture.